Patti Smith to appear on Red Hot Chili Pepper Flea's solo EP

In a series of tweets, he wrote that the proceeds to the self-recorded EP, 'Helen Burn's, will go towards Silverlake Conservatory for Music, the music school he set up in 2001.

"I am putting out an EP I made by myself in a couple of days. It is obscure arty mostly instrumental music, except when Patti Smith sings," he wrote. "All proceeds from my Helen Burns EP will go towards the Silverlake Conservatory of Music".

The release will use a Radiohead-style pay-what-you-want model, he wrote: "It will be available for download at any price you want to pay, it will be a donation to the Silverlake Conservatory of Music". However, an autographed vinyl version of the EP containing a piece of bass string will cost $75.

For fans hoping to a Red Hot Chili Peppers-style record, Flea says the sound is completely different, writing: "I recorded most of the EP when we finished our tour for 'Stadium Arcadium'. It is not RHCP music or even close to it. It is a trippy freakout".

Full details of how to get hold of the EP will be announced in the next two days.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are set to release 18 singles over the next six months. The tracks, which were all recorded during the band's sessions for their 2011 studio album 'I'm With You', will be released as nine double A-sided 7'' singles from August 11.